Articles by Dave Kaufman

The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), located in North jny: Phoenix, is a singularly unique experience in the world of music or museums, for that matter. The MIM displays over 6500 instruments from all corners of the globe. The experience is enhanced by superb video and audio presentations that situate the music in historical and cultural contexts. Although there is much information to be absorbed, the exhibits are presented with great artistry, clarity of purpose and entertainment value. Visiting the MIM ...

Smalls Jazz Club in Greenwich Village is a remarkably vibrant music venue that enjoys considerable international renown. It is not the most mannered of clubs with loud and boisterous audiences. Nor is it the most decorous, but does offer a rather distinctive look. The club has a great vibe and is committed to treating its audience to a great and generous music experience. For example, on weekends, the first shows commence at 4 PM and end with jam sessions at ...

Ravi Coltrane continues to evolve as an artist of remarkable depth and breadth as reflected in the diversity of contexts in which he engages. Coltrane was featured in three different musical settings at the recent (2017) jny: Montreal International Jazz Festival Invitation Series. All concerts were held at the Centre de Creativite Gesu, an intimate concert hall that seats close to 500 people and offers outstanding acoustics and excellent site lines. The sold out concerts were were given an extremely ...

The Montreal International Jazz Festival has just concluded its 38th year. I've been fortunate to have attended more than 30 of them and this year ranked among the best. I've covered the event as a photographer for All About Jazz since 2011. The festival is a total music immersion experience presenting some 600 concerts over the course of 11 days. It can be overwhelming and exhausting, but more often than not it is incredibly exhilarating. Some of the highlights of ...

Golden Boy: The Music of Art Blakey--90th Birthday Celebration David Weiss and 11 Musicians The Iridium Jazz Club New York, New York December 5, 2009

The great drummer and long-standing band leader Art Blakey would have celebrated his 90th birthday this past October. In honor of that event, trumpeter, composer and arranger David Weiss assembled a cast of excellent young and not so young musicians to pay tribute to the great ...

The Charles Tolliver Big BandThe Iridium Jazz ClubNew York, NYOctober 17, 2009Charles Tolliver leads a modernist 16 piece big band that pushes the envelope of contemporary orchestral jazz sounds. The Big Band played a four night stand at the Iridium Jazz Club and I was fortunate to catch the second set on Saturday night. The Iridium is situated in Midtown Manhattan, just a few blocks away from Time Square, the tourist corner of the world. ...

This has been a banner year for Joe Lovano. He was appointed to the newly created Gary Burton Chair in Jazz Performance at Berklee College of Music, a position he assumed this past September. Recently the Downbeat's Critics and Readers Poll named Joe Lovano as its artist of the year. In the past year, he also released 2 critically-acclaimed recordings, 52nd Street Themes an homage to Tadd Dameron and classic music of the bebop era, and Flights of Fancy, a ...

I love jazz because it's been a life's work.
I was first exposed to jazz by my father.
I met Hampton Hawes.
The best show I ever attended was Les McCann.
The first jazz record I bought was Herbie Hancock.
My advice to new listeners is to listen at a comfortable volume.